CPS board to consider axing teacher raises

Chicago Public Schools board members will be meeting Wednesday to determine whether teachers will get their annual 4 percent increase next year, according to a schools source.

The district, which is facing a $720 million deficit, is considering getting rid of those raises to close the budget shortfall. Although the raise is part of the current teacher’s contract, board members can vote it down by June 15 if they cannot fund those increases.

Initially the board had planned to meet Tuesday.

Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Becky Carroll said she has not been given a date for the board meeting.

School budgets released last week did not include those raises, nor did they include salary increases for principals. The 4 percent increase for teachers adds up to a $100 million increase in expenses for next year, and eliminating it would help the district in addressing its deficit.

CPS last week also cut $75 million in largely central office expenses, but those reductions may do little to cover the gap since the state budget plan before the governor calls for $77 million less in state funding.

On Tuesday, the Chicago Teachers Union along with other groups will rally outside a meeting of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce’s chief financial officer executive summit. The groups will converge at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 151 E. Wacker Drive, to demand banks and large corporations pay more taxes to cover housing and job losses, and education cuts.